BRAINTREE – A Braintree man will be going to court to explain why he decorated his Maserati sports car to look like a police cruiser.

Braintree Deputy Police Chief Wayne Foster said the as-yet unidentified town resident was summoned for a clerk magistrate hearing in Quincy District Court after a patrol officer stopped him in Braintree Square over the weekend.

Foster said the car “was made to look like a police cruiser,” with the body painted black and white, a police-style shield on the doors, and decals for 911, K-9 and speed enforcement. He said the only thing the car didn’t have was police-style blue lights on the top.

The driver was charged with impersonating a police officer. Foster said Monday the owner’s court hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet.

Foster said that at about 4 p.m. Saturday, patrol officer Blake Holt fell in behind the 2010 Maserati on Washington Street in Braintree Square.

He said Holt “didn’t know of any (police) department that had a Maserati,” so he turned on his cruiser’s lights and stopped the Maserati.

The Italian luxury car typically costs $100,000 or more.

Foster said the driver told Holt that he believed he was assisting the police “because other drivers noticed him and slowed down, thinking it was a police vehicle.”

But Foster also noted that the Maserati’s police-style shield decorations said “Decepticons punish and enslave,” rather than the usual police motto “protect and serve.”

Reach Lane Lambert at llambert@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @LLambert_Ledger.